SECOND COPY, 



JAN 801899 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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Chap,r_._.. Copyright No. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



JAN 25 ^^39 



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CUyn/i^li44J 



THE CAPTURE OF 

JEFFERSON DAVIS 



A NARRATIVE 

OF THE 

Part Taken by Wisconsin Troops 



HENRY HARNDEN 

Brevet Brigadier-General; Late Commander 
OF the First Wisconsin Cavalry 



MADISON, WIS. 
1898 






COPYRIGHTED 1899 BY 
- HENRY HARNDEN, 






Ti?ACY, GIBBS & CO., PRINTERS 
MADISON, WIS. 

TWO COPSES REC:ilVE9. 






'■■#''^/'(<fC«9' 







> 



PREFACE. 



The following account of the part taken 
by the First Wisconsin Cavalry in the 
Capture of Jefferson Davis was originally 
prepared substantially as it is now pre- 
sented, at the request of Comrades of 
the G. A. R., and has already been given 
before a number of the different Posts. 
It has been put into its present form for 
the reason that it is believed it will be a 
pleasure to the surviving members of the 
regiments, and to their children and 
friends to have the same for convenient 
perusal. 

My personal recollection has been re- 
freshed as far as possible by re-reading 
the official records and reports made at 
the time, and also by letters and corre- 
spondence had with persons who took 
part in the capture. I have endeavored 
to make it as correct as possible, and the 



4 Preface. 

more so on account of the very unfortu- 
nate collision which took place between 
the First Wisconsin and the Fourth 
Michigan Cavalry, mention of which it 
seems almost necessary to make in any 
narrative concerning the matter. I have 
endeavored to tell a plain story in a plain 
way, and as such I submit it to the judg- 
ment of my comrades who took part with 
me in the struggle which occurred almost 
a generation since. 

HENRY HARNDEN. 

Madison, November 8, 1898. 



^be Stor? of tbe Capture of 
3effcr0on Davie* 



AFTER the defeat of Hood's 
army at Nashville, Tennes- 
^ see by General Thomas, 
on the 15th and i6th of December, 
1864, the Union cavalry under Gen- 
eral Wilson pursued the retreating 
rebels until the remnants of their 
army escaped across the Tennessee 
river into Mississippi. General Wil- 
son encamped his cavalry at Gravelly 
Springs and Waterloo, along the 
line of the Tennessee, preparatory 
to the commencement of his great 
raid through Alabama and Georgia, 
which resulted in the rout of the 
5 



6 The Capture of 

rebel General Forest, and the scat- 
tering and capture of the greater 
part of his army, also the capture 
of Selman and Montgon:iery, Ala- 
bama, and Columbus and West- 
point, Georgia, finally winding up 
with the capture of Macon, Georgia. 
The First Wisconsin Cavalry com- 
posed a part of these forces, and 
bore a conspicuous part in all that 
was accomplished on this, the great- 
est and most successful cavalry raid 
of the war. 

The rebel army which General 
Thomas defeated at Nashville was 
the same that had opposed General 
Sherman from Chattanooga to At- 
lanta the previous summer, and 
was, at the time of the battle of 
Nashville, composed of about fort}^ 
thousand of the best troops of the 
confederacy, but so total was their 
defeat and rout that when they 



Jefferson Davis. 7 

finally got across Tennessee, there 
was only about twelve thousand of 
their infantry left. General Wilson, 
with the First, Second, and Third 
Divisions of the Cavalry Corps, and 
three batteries of artillery, about 
fifteen thousand men, crossed the 
Tennessee river on the nth day of 
March, 1865, at Chickasaw, Ala- 
bama, arriving at Macon, Georgia, 
April 20, 1865. 

While resting quietly in camp 
about two miles north of the city on 
the evening of May 6, 1865, I re- 
ceived orders to report at once to 
headquarters. I mounted my horse 
and rode over to headquarters as or- 
dered, I there found General J. G. 
Croxton in command, in the absence 
of General McCook. The General 
informed me that it was reported 
that Jeff. Davis was in South Caro- 
lina, making his way south into 



8 The Capture of 

Georgia, that a portion of his cab- 
inet was with him, and that thc}^ 
were accompanied by six or seven 
hundred men; that I had been se- 
lected to command a detachment of 
one hundred and fifty men from the 
First Wisconsin Cavalry to go and 
endeavor to cut him off and capture 
him if possible; that I must march 
immediately and not wait for rations. 
I enquired if he thought one hun- 
dred and fifty men a sufficient num- 
ber to take on the expedition. He 
replied "That in the opinion of 
General Wilson, it was." He said 
that the escort of Davis was greatly 
demoralized, and many were leaving 
him; that they would be poorly 
armed, and it was doubtful if they 
would fight at all, but if they should 
fight, he would risk our being able 
to take care of them. He also said 
the country through which our route 



Jefferson Davis. g 

lay was very poor, and that it would 
be difficult to subsist a large party, 
and that we must start immediately 
and not wait for rations, adding, as 
I left him, that if there was a fight 
and Jeff. Davis should get hurt, 
General Wilson would not feel very 
bad over it. 

I then returned to my camp, and 
soon had a detail of one hundred and 
fifty men selected, all well armed 
and mounted, ready to march. 

It was about sunset when we 
passed through Macon, and crossed 
the bridge over the Ochemulgee 
river, and then took a line of march 
towards Savannah. General Crox- 
ton had furnished me with a large 
map of Georgia, so that I was able 
to shape our course correctly. Dur- 
ing the night we came to a planta- 
tion where there was forage, so we 
halted and fed our horses. Up to 



lo The Capture of 

this time the men had no idea as to 
where we were going or for what 
purpose we had been ordered out. 

When ready to mount our horses, 
I made known the object of our ex- 
pedition. I frankly told them that 
if we encountered Davis and his es- 
cort they would greatly outnumber 
us, and were probably the pick of 
the Confederate army; that they 
would no doubt fight desperately; 
that it would be a battle to the death, 
and that Jeff. Davis must not be 
allowed to escape in any event, but 
as we had never been whipped, I 
had no fear of being whipped now. 
All of which was greeted with 
cheers. 

We continued our march all night 
and the next day (May 7th) until 
near evening, when we arrived at 
Dublin, a considerable town, sit- 
uated on the west bank of the Oconee 



Jefferson Davis. ii 

river. I had sent out scouting par- 
ties during the night and day, to en- 
deavor to get information in regard 
to parties who were continually 
crossing our road, to ascertain if 
some of them might not be the 
Davis party, but these men always 
proved to be from General John- 
ston's army, who, having surren- 
dered a short time before to General 
Sherman, were going home on pa- 
role. 

These diversions caused our march 
to be somewhat delayed. Upon ar- 
riving at Dublin I noticed the people 
appeared considerably excited at 
our presence, but I caused it to be 
given out that we were establishing 
courier posts between Macon and 
Savannah, a little piece of strategy 
allowable in a military campaign. 
We bivouaced on a flat between the 
town and the river. I had several 



12 The Capture of 

invitations from gentlemen to take 
up my quarters at their houses, and 
for some reason they appeared quite 
anxious I should do so; all of which 
surprised me, as I had never been 
the recipient of such attentions be- 
fore. 

By some means I got an inkling 
that a party with wagons had passed 
through the town that day, but to 
my questions as to who they were I 
got only evasive answers, but I 
finally concluded it was some sutler 
from Johnston's army. The town 
was full of rebel officers in uniform, 
and as they stood in groups by 
themselves, talking, I thought their 
looks boded no good to us. Po- 
litely declining all invitations, I 
made my bivouac with the com- 
mand, and being weary with thirty- 
six hours of duty, twenty-four of 
which had been spent in the saddle, 



Jefferson Davis. 13 

we threw ourselves upon the ground 
to sleep. 

For several months I had been 
served by an old colored man named 
"Bill." He had been a slave and 
owned by a staff officer of General 
Bragg. He had often waited upon 
General Bragg as well as his master, 
but when the rebels were hustled 
out of Tennessee by General Rosen- 
cranse in 1863, Bill got left behind 
and fell in with us, and I employed 
him. He was as homely as a hedge- 
hog and a perfect tyrant over the 
other darkies, but he was as true as 
steel to me, and withal very intelli- 
gent. He happened to be with us 
on this expedition. 

I had scarcely lain down to sleep 
when "Bill" came and touched me. 
"Colonel, Colonel," he said, "wake 
up; I have found a colored man who 
will tell you something." "Well, 



14 The Capture of 

what is it?" said I. It was dark as 
pitch, but I could see the whites of 
their eyes, and I knew they had 
something important to tell. 

The man said Jeff. Davis had been 
in town that day. I said, "How 
do you know it was Jeff. Davis? 
what makes you think so?" "Well," 
he said, "all the gentlemen called 
him President Davis, and he had his 
wife with him, and she was called 
Mrs. Davis." 

He said they had come over the 
river on a ferry. They had a num- 
ber of nice wagons with them, and 
some fine saddle-horses led behind 
the wagon in which President Davis 
and his wife rode. He further said 
that they were going to dine with 
Judge Rose (Judge Rose was one of 
the gentlemen who had been so per- 
sistent in urging me to spend the 
night at his house), but before they 



Jeffersofi Davis. 15 

could get the dinner ready they 
heard something- that made the party 
leave in a hurry, going south on the 
river road. He further stated that 
there was another large party that 
did not come over the river. I ques- 
tioned him closely, and his answers 
appeared straight, but I was fearful 
of a trick to send me off on some 
side-track. I said to Bill, "Do you 
think he is telling me the truth, and 
that I ought to believe him.-'" "Sar- 
tin, shoor, Kurnel; you can believe 
him; he is telling you God's troof." 
It will be seen that if Bill had not 
been with us we would have known 
nothing of Davis having crossed our 
track, and we would have gone the 
next morning toward Savannah, and 
Jeff. Davis would in all probabilities 
have escaped capture and got away 
into Cuba, in company with Judah 



1 6 The Capture of 

P. Benjamin and others, or across 
the Mississippi to Kirby Smith. 

To get a little more information I 
called up a couple of men and went 
down to the ferry and interviewed 
the ferryman as to whom he had 
brought over the river that day, but 
I could get nothing out of him. He 
was either too stupid or ignorant, or 
too obstinate, to give us any infor- 
mation of importance. I have al- 
ways been sorry that we did not 
throw the old scamp into the river, 
as my sergeant wanted to do. 

As soon as we got back to the 
bivouac I called up the men to sad- 
dle for a march. Lieutenant Hew- 
itt, with thirty men, had been left 
back at some cross-roads and had 
not yet come up, so detailing Lieu- 
tenant Lane, with forty-five men to 
remain at Dublin, and scout from 
there up and down the river, I with 



/efferso/i Davis. 17 

the balance (seventy-five men), 
started south in the direction the 
Davis party was reported to have 
taken. It vvas very dark and the 
roads in the pine woods were only 
trails. We soon became confused, 
and after wandering- around for some 
time, found ourselves coming into 
Dublin again. Picking our road 
once more, and daylight coming, we 
struck out on the river road at a 
rapid gait, on the morning of 
May 8th. Five miles out we 
came to Turkey creek where we 
found the bridge torn up. While 
the bridge was being repaired, I 
strolled up to a log house near by 
and questioned the woman in regard 
to the party who had crossed the 
evening before. 

She said a large party had passed, 
but she did not know who they were, 
but she said that a couple of the 



1 8 The Capture of 

gentlemen had been in her house 
and drank some milk, and she 
showed me a little scrap of paper 
which she said they had dropped. 
I saw it was a piece of a Richmond 
paper of recent date. A bright lit- 
tle girl standing by, said she had 
heard one gentleman call the other 
Colonel Harrison, and the other was 
addressed as Mr. President. Upon 
my inquiring as to how they were 
dressed, she said they were almost 
as handsomely dressed as I was, 
but their coats were not alike. 
Pointing to my shoulder-straps, I 
inquired if they had such things on 
their coats, she said *'No, they had 
not, but one had stars on his collar 
and gold on his sleeves, but the 
other had nothing, and neither one 
was like mine." The child's descrip- 
tion convinced me that one was an 
officer of high rank and the other 



Jefferson Davis. 19 

Jeff. Davis. So convinced was I 
that I had really now got on the 
track of Jeff. Davis, that I wrote a 
dispatch and started a courier with it 
to General Wilson, but the man was 
captured by some confederates, 
taken into the woods, robbed of his 
horse and equipments and left to 
make his way to Macon on foot, 
which he did, but not until after my 
return there. 

The bridge being repaired we 
pushed on again through the pine 
woods. The wagon tracks could 
now be plainly seen, but it soon 
commenced to rain a regular pour- 
down and the tracks we were fol- 
lowing were obliterated. We were 
now in the great pine woods of the 
south, the soil nothing but white 
sand with scarcely an inhabitant, 
and soon lost all track of the party 
ahead, but still pushed blindly on. 



20 The Capture of 

I sent parties circling around to find 
the road, but they were unsuccess- 
ful. They, however, found a horse- 
man and brought him to me. In 
reply to my questions, he said he 
knew nothing of any party, that he 
was only a poor citizen hunting 
some lost sheep. 

I noticed that he was riding a fine 
horse. I told him that I would take 
his horse and he could hunt his sheep 
on foot. At this he began to plead 
earnestly. I told him to quit lying 
and tell me where the wagons were 
that had been somewhere near there 
the evening before and I would let 
him go with his horse. He then 
confessed he did know where the 
party had camped over night, but it 
was eleven miles away and in an- 
other direction entirely from that in 
which we were headed. 

"Guide us there," said I, "and 



Jefferson Davis. 21 

you will have your horse, otherwise 
you go home on foot;" to this he 
agreed. In order that this man 
might not lose his way I had him 
ride between two good men with 
loaded carbines. He took us in a 
westerly direction to where the Davis 
party had been in camp, but they 
were gone. 

According to promise, I dismissed 
the guide, and he left us in a hurry. 
We found here a poor plantation 
and a little forage, which we appro- 
priated from the owner. I inquired 
where the wagon party had gone; 
he did not know, but thought they 
had crossed Gum swamp, and that 
the rains had so raised the water 
that it would be impossible for us 
to get through. 

"Get your horse," I said, "and 
guide us through to the other side 
of the swamps and we will go, 



22 The Capture of 

otherwise we shall stay and eat you 
out of house and home." He then 
quickly got his horse and led the 
way through the swamp, where the 
water for miles was up to the sad- 
dles. 

Dismissing this guide, we pushed 
on through those dense woods, over 
a fairly plain track until darkness 
compelled us to halt for the night. 
During the night there came up a 
terrible storm of wind, rain, thunder 
and lightning, and, as if to add to 
our already discomfort, several great 
trees came down with a crash in our 
near vicinity, but our weariness was 
such that we were disturbed but for 
a moment. 

As soon as it was light enough 
to see, on the morning of May 9th, 
we pushed on in a southeast direc- 
tion, until we struck the Ochemulgee 
river, the same we had crossed be- 



Jefferson Davis. 23 

fore at Macon. Continuing down 
the river some distance, we came to 
a ferry. By our haste to get over, 
the boat was damaged so that only 
a half load of horses could be taken 
over at a time. This delayed us a 
couple of hours, then we pushed on 
a few miles to a little town called 
Abbeville. 

By inquiring, we learned that a 
party with wagons had passed 
through the town during the night and 
that they had gone towards Irwins- 
ville. We halted and fed our horses 
and then started on the road to- 
wards Irwinsville. Just as we were 
moving out we saw four soldiers in 
United States uniform, coming 
down the road from the north. They 
informed me they belonged to the 
Fourth Michigan Cavalry, Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Pritchard commanding, 
and that the regiment was near at 



24 The Capture of 

hand. Sending- on our detachment 
under Lieutenant Clinton, I rode, 
accompanied by my orderly, to 
meet Colonel Pritchard. After in- 
troducing myself, I inquired if he 
had any news of Jeff. Davis. He 
said he had not, but that he had 
been ordered with his regiment to 
Abbeville to patrol the river and to 
prevent Davis from crossing. He 
also informed me that his orders 
were to encamp at Abbeville and 
guard the crossings of the Ochemul- 
gee, and he gave me no intimation 
that he intended any other course. 
He had left Macon since I had, but 
up to this time had heard nothing 
of Davis. As his errand was the 
same as mine, I thought it my duty 
to give him all the information in 
my possession, in regard to the 
movement of Davis. I told him 
that we had been on the track of 



Jefferson Davis. 25 

Davis for three days, and that Davis 
with one party had crossed over the 
Ochemulgee during the night and 
gone towards Irwinsville, but there 
was a larger party of confederates 
who were somewhere the other side 
of the river. He inquired if I 
needed any more men, I said not 
unless he could spare some rations 
as our party had next to nothing to 
eat. He said they had marched 
suddenly and had no rations. 

Bidding him good-bye, my or- 
derly, James Aplin, and I, left him 
and pushed on and overtook our 
party. We shortly came to the 
place where the Davis party had 
lunched. They had left so recently 
that their fires were still burning. 
We continued to march on until 
dark, when coming to a swale where 
there was water and a little grass, 
we halted to rest and graze our 



26 The Capture of 

horses. All we had for rations was 
a little damaged corn-meal. We 
lay down to rest for a spell, but be- 
fore the break of day, we were in 
in our saddles again. 

At this time I felt confident that 
we were in the near proximity to 
the Davis party, and had only 
halted so as not to come upon them 
in the night. I expected that Davis 
would camp on the other side of a 
river ahead, and I thought if we at- 
tempted to cross the ford in the 
dark, Davis would take the alarm 
and escape. 

May lOth, putting forward an ad- 
vance guard of a sergeant, George 
Hussey, and six men, with instruc- 
tions to keep a little ahead and to 
keep a sharp lookout for the enemy, 
we moved on. We had made but 
a mile or so when our advance guard 
were fired upon suddenly, by what 



Jefferson Davis. 27 

I judged to be twenty or thirty mus- 
kets. Galloping forward at the head 
of ten men, I met the sergeant with 
his party coming back with several 
of his men wounded. He said they 
had run into the enemy's pickets 
and had been fired upon. I directed 
the sergeant to follow and then 
dashed on, when we were met with 
another volley, so close that their 
fire came right in our faces, and the 
bullets rattled like hail on the trees. 
I could just see the forms of the 
men on account of the darkness. 
Seeing that they were in consider- 
able force and determined to stand 
their ground, I got my men into line 
and dismounting a part, we ad- 
vanced on the enemy. After giving 
us a third volley we opened fire on 
them and they then retreated into 
a swamp. 



28 The Capture of 

It was now getting a little light. 
At this time a man called my atten- 
tion to about one hundred mounted 
men who were coming down on our 
left flank. He said, "Colonel, there 
is more than a hundred of them 
coming." I said, "Never mind 
boys, we will whip them yet." Di- 
recting Sergeant Horr, with ten 
men of Company A, to pursue the 
party who had fired on us first and 
retreated, and not to let them rally, 
I next turned my attention to the 
new comers who were between us 
and the light. The new comers 
opened fire on us as they approached. 

Forming a line facing the ap- 
proaching enemy, we opened upon 
them with our repeating rifles (Spen- 
ser carbines). They were soon 
thrown into confusion. I had left 
part of my men under Lieutenant 
Clinton, mounted; seeing that the 



Jefferson Davis. 29 

enem}^ were in confusion, I now or- 
dered Clinton to prepare for a sabre 
charge. Two of the men hearing 
me and understanding I had ordered 
the charge, drew their sabres and 
putting spurs to their horses, dashed 
at the enemy. 

I called them back not being quite 
ready, as I wanted to give our foot- 
men time to replenish their riiaga- 
zines. Just as I was about to give 
the final order to charge, Sergeant 
Horr came running up and said we 
were fighting Union men. That he 
had captured one of them and thus 
ascertained the fact. At hearing 
this I rode in front of our line and 
shouted to *'stop firing," which soon 
ceased on both sides. Riding for- 
ward, the first man I met was Col- 
onel Pritchard. So surprised was I 
that for sometime I could not realize 
that it was Colonel Pritchard, but as 



3© The Capture of 

soon as I knew him, I asked him 
how it was that he was there fight- 
ing us. 

He explained that after parting 
with me the day before, at Abbe- 
ville, twenty-five miles distance, and 
ascertaining from me that Davis had 
already got across the river, and 
finding that there was another road 
to Irwinsville, he had selected one 
hundred and fifty of his best men, 
well mounted, and by marching all 
night had arrived at Irwinsville be- 
fore daylight. Hearing that a party 
with wagons was camped out a little 
ways from the town, he had marched 
out toward it, guided by a negro. 
He had sent twenty-five men around 
to the back of the camp, and it was 
these men who had mistaken us for 
enemies, had fired upon us so reck- 
lessly with such unfortunate results. 

He said some of his men had just 



Jefferson Davis. 31 

taken possession of the camp, which 
was only about fifty yards away. I 
inquired if Jeff. Davis had been cap- 
tured. He answered that he did 
not know who had been captured, 
as he had not been to the camp him- 
self. In this unfortunate affair, two 
of the Michigan men were killed, 
one officer and several men wounded. 
Of the Wisconsin men three were 
wounded, but none were killed. 

Colonel Pritchard and I rode into 
the Davis camp together, which was 
just across a little swale, only a few 
rods from where our skirmish took 
place. The first person we saw in 
the camp was Mr. John H. Reagen, 
the Postmaster-General of the late 
Confederacy, lately the United 
States Senator from Texas. He 
said, "Well, you have taken the old 
gentleman at last." I said, **Who 
do you mean.!*" He said, *T mean 



32 The Capture of 

President Davis." * 'Please point 
him out," said I. "There he stands" 
said he, pointing to a tall, elderly, 
and rather dignified looking gentle- 
man, standing a short distance 
away. We rode up, dismounted 
and saluted, and I asked if this was 
Mr. Davis. ''Yes," he replied, '*/ 
am President Davis.'' At this the 
soldiers set up a shout that Jeff. 
Davis was captured. 

Up to this time none of the men 
who actually arrested him, knew 
that he was Jeff. Davis. One sol- 
dier said, ''What! that man Jeff. 
Davis.? That's the old fellow that 
when I stopped him had his wife's 
shawl on." About this time we, 
that is Mr. Davis, Colonel Pritchard 
and myself were the center of a cir- 
cle, composed of soldiers and others 
of the Davis party. In the back- 
ground some soldiers set up a song: 




LIEUT.-COL. HENRY HARNDEN. 

First Wisconsin Cavalry. Brevet Brigadier General of 
Volunteers, 1865. 



Jeffersov Davis. 33 

"We will hang^ Jeff. Davison a sour 
apple tree," to the tune of John 
Brown, which did not add to his 
comfort in the least. 

In the camp were two tents and 
eight ambulances, each drawn by- 
four mules. There were also sev- 
eral fine saddle horses. Besides 
Jeff. Davis, there were Mr. Reagan, 
Colonel Harrison, Mrs. Davis, her 
sister, Miss Howel, and a number 
of rebel officers from Johnston's 
army and a lot of teamsters, serv- 
ants and others, but no fighting 
men. 

It appears that when the fighting 
began, Mr. Davis was sleeping in 
his tent. Alarmed at the noise, he 
hastily arose and threw a shawl, or 
dressing-gown around him, and 
started out, but meeting a soldier, 
was stopped and ordered back into 
his tent. It was some time before 



34 The Capture of 

he could understand what had hap- 
pened. He heard the noise of the 
sharp skirmish, and saw the dead 
and wounded brought in, and know- 
ing that he had no fighting men 
with him, he could not understand 
what it meant, until explained to 
him afterwards. 

I entered into conversation with 
him, but with poor satisfaction to him 
or to me. I would not call him Mr. 
President, but always addressed him 
as Mr. Davis, which seemed greatly 
to annoy him, and he retaliated by 
speaking of "your government, "with 
the greatest contempt. I said to 
him that I came very near making 
his acquaintance back at Dublin, 
three days before, and if he had ful- 
filled his engagement to dine with 
Judge Rose, that I should have done 
so. Upon this, he turned on me with 
great hauteur and said: "Well, sir, 



Jcffc?'son Davis. 35 

I can assure you that if j'ou had 
made my acquaintance then, this 
thing would not have happened as 
it has. I had those with me then, 
who would not have permitted this 
indignity to have been put upon me, 
and it was well for you, sir, that 
you were not in time to see me 
then." I replied, that it would have 
afforded me pleasure to have met 
his friends and tried the question 
with them. Every few moments 
he would turn away from me, but 
he would soon come back to the tilt 
again. He wanted to know if my 
government authorized me to har- 
rass women and children through 
the country in the manner I was do- 
ing. I replied no, that I was not after 
women and children, but I was sent 
after him. Then his wrath arose 
again, and he poured out a torrent of 
abuse against my government, which 



36 The Capture of 

was treating him with such indig- 
nity. 

While conversing with him I saw 
a cask of brandy pitched out of an 
ambulance and the head was soon 
knocked in and the soldiers were 
running from all parts, with cups 
and canteens, so I called Colonel 
Pritchard's attention to it, and said 
it ought to be stopped, as there 
might soon be trouble over it. The 
Colonel went over and tried to stop 
it, but with poor success, I suspect, 
as the condition of the soldiers soon 
showed. Mr. Davis seeing the way 
things were being thrown out of the 
wagons, turned to me and inquired 
which of us was the ranking officer. 
As rank depended upon the date of 
our commissions, and we were both 
Lieutenant-Colonels, I replied that 
I did not know. He meant to in- 
quire which of us was in command. 



Jefferson Davis. 37 

but as he had been insolent, I did 
not propose to explain to him that 
we were two separate commands 
just come together. He then turned 
to some confederate officers and 
said that things had come to a 
pretty state of affairs when United 
States soldiers did not know who 
their commanding officer was, and 
that it was no wonder that the pri- 
vates were plunderers and robbers. 
After a little more talk, his wrath 
which had for some time been rising, 
got completely the better of him, and 
then he turned his back upon me for 
the last time. 

In speaking to his wife he blamed 
her for his being captured, for he 
said, if he had acted on his own 
judgment he would have been with 
the others of his party, and this 
thing would not have happened 
as it had. It appeared that she had 



38 The Capture of 

persuaded him to accompany her a 
little further than he had at first in- 
tended. Mrs. Davis took him by 
the arm and tried to pacify him. 
She told him "never to mind him, 
that he was not worth minding." 
She also said, as she was leading 
him away, that she hoped we would 
not irritate the President for some 
one might get hurt. 

After making all allowance for the 
humiliating position in which Mr. 
Davis found himself placed at that 
time, I came to the conclusion that he 
was a greatly overrated man. His 
manner and all that he said, his 
blaming his wife and other circum- 
stances, all went to show that he 
had no real nobility about him. 

It appears that up to their arrival 
at Dublin, Mr. Davis was accom- 
panied by his Cabinet officers and 
quite an escort of Texans, but they 



Jefferson Davis. 39 

were separated, the main part going 
down the east side of the Oconee 
river, while the party of Mr. Davis 
crossed to the west side and were 
headed for Mississippi, the home of 
Mrs. Davis. 

Mr. Davis only intended to keep 
her company for a day or two longer, 
then leave her and make his way to 
General Kirby Smith in the lower 
Mississippi, and continue the war 
some longer. 

In regard to what would have hap- 
pened in case we had met Mr. Davis 
at Dublin, it is only problematical. 
The Wisconsin troops were veterans 
selected from one of the best regi- 
ments in the service, all well armed, 
mounted, and disciplined, while the 
confederates although in greatly su- 
perior numbers, were disorganized 
and discouraged. That they were 
brave men and desperate fighters, 



4© The Capture of 

no one will dispute, but that the 
meeting did not take place, in my 
opinion, was well for Jeff. Davis and 
his escort, for in the language of 
Mrs. Davis, **some one would have 
got hurt." 

As to the hoop-skirt story, I know 
but very little of it, but think it 
grew out of the remark by a soldier, 
that, when he stopped him, he had 
his wife's shawl on. As I saw noth- 
ing and heard nothing of any female 
apparel at the time I never took 
any stock in that story. After rest- 
ing for a short time and caring for 
the wounded and burying the dead, 
we all began our return march to 
Macon, where we arrived the day 
after. May 12, 1865. 

I first made my verbal report to 
General Wilson and received from 
him his hearty approval of all we had 
done. We then heard that a reward 



Jefferson Davis. 41 

of one hundred thousand dollars had 
been offered for the capture of Da- 
vis, a fact of which, up to this 
time, we Wisconsin men had been 
ignorant. 

The reward offered for the cap- 
ture of Davis was first awarded to 
the Michigan regiment, although 
the greater part of the regiment was 
twenty-five miles away at the time, 
but the great injustice of this was 
so apparent that Congress appointed 
a committee to investigate, and 
this committee reversed the award 
by giving to the men who were ac- 
tually present, of both regiments, 
shares alike according to rank and 
pay. General Wilson received a 
share equal to that of Colonel Prit- 
chard and myself. 

As the war was then over and 
Colonel Pritchard and myself were 
soon mustered out of service, no 



42 The Capture of 

military court of inquiry was ever 
held to determine the responsibility 
of the collision which resulted so 
disastrously to several Union sol- 
diers, but General Wilson says in 
his official report, that Colonel 
Harnden was in no way responsible 
as he had no means of knowing 
that the parties in his front were 
other than enemies. 

Over thirty odd years have passed 
and gone since the event narrated 
above took place, and many of the 
participants have gone to their long 
homes, but the memory of the com- 
rades are still fresh to me and grow- 
ing dearer as time rolls on. 

I will add one word more of tribute 
to their praise. For the whole seven 
days of the expedition, not one word 
of complaint or a murmur was heard, 
although marching under the burn- 
ing sun or in the blinding rain, by 



Jefferson Davis. 43 

day or night, with scarcely any food 
to eat, without rest, until it seemed 
as if human nature could stand no 
more; and yet, weary as they were, 
they were ready to face their ene- 
mies in battle, well knowing them 
to be more than two to one of 
themselves. Their only thought 
was, it is duty. 

In Major-General Wilson's official 
report, made to the war department 
in regard to the capture of Jeff. 
Davis, he says: "Upon receiving 
notice that Mr. Davis was making 
his way into Georgia, I ordered the 
General commanding the First Di- 
vision, to detail one hundred and 
fifty men from his best regiment, 
commanded by his best officer, to 
go in pursuit of Davis, and in obe- 
dience to the order, General Crox- 
ton sent Colonel Harnden with a de- 
tachment from the First Wisconsin 
cavalry." 



44 The Capture of 

It will be observed that one hun- 
dred and fifty men of the Wisconsin 
regiment were sent out to do the 
same work and to meet the same 
risks for which whole regiments were 
in other cases thought to be neces- 
sary. How well they acquitted 
themselves of the great responsibil- 
ity is shown by the results they ac- 
complished. 

QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 

A number of questions have been 
asked with respect to the capture, 
which I will try to answer as best 
I can. 

What was done with Jefferson 
Davis? 

After he was brought to Macon, 
he was sent under guard by the way 
of Savannah to Old Point, Vir- 
ginia, where he was kept a prisoner 



Jefferson Davis. 45 

for several months, Governor Up- 
ham, of Wisconsin, then a Lieuten- 
ant in the United States army, being 
one of the officer's to guard him. 
Davis was finally released on bail, 
Horace Greely and others going on 
his bond. 

Who was Captaiii Yeoman f 
He was a Captain in an Ohio 
regiment, who somewhere in the 
Carolinas fell in with the Davis 
party, and passing himself off for a 
Confederate, traveled with them for 
several days, and it was he who 
contrived to get the dispatch to 
General Wilson at Macon, which 
caused him to send a number of 
regiments in different directions to 
try and head Davis off, and which 
did finally result in his capture. 

How was Davis dressed? 
He wore a common slouched hat, 
nice fine boots, no spurs, coat and 



46 The Capture of 

pants of light blue English broad- 
cloth; taking all circumstances into 
consideration, he was neatly dressed. 

Who captured him? 

It was said and not disputed at 
the time, that the soldier's name 
who said "halt" to Davis, was Hun- 
ger, a corporal in the Fourth Mich- 
igan Cavalry, but he did not then 
know that it was Davis. 

How did the hoop-skirt story get 
started? 

■ When we got back to Macon, 
General Wilson sent for me and 
made me tell him all about my pur- 
suit and the incidents of the capture 
of Davis. The General insisted 
upon every particular as how he ap- 
peared, what he said, how he was 
dressed, etc. 

After narrating all, I told him 
that I heard the soldier who halted 



Jefferson Davis. 47 

him say, that when Davis came out 
of his tent, he had his wife's shawl 
on. This remark of mine was tel- 
egraphed north, and when it came 
back, it had apparently grown into 
its well known proportions. 

Who was to blame for the col- 
lision ? 

Perhaps that is not for me to say, 
but after the lapse of these many 
years, and looking back across the 
intervening time, and realizing that 
men may be mistaken in their judg- 
ments, I feel that I owe it to his- 
torical truth and to the memory of 
the brave men of the First Wiscon- 
sin Cavalry, who were with me, 
and who took part in this closing 
scene in the war, to once more care- 
fully review the circumstances of 
that unfortunate collision, and to 
submit to those who care to read 



48 The Capture of 

this narrative, the evidence upon 
the subject which I have been able 
to gather from official reports and 
from the statements of those who 
were present, and personally wit- 
nessed the facts. 

The official reports of the Union 
and Confederate armies have now 
been put in print, and are access- 
able to every one, and all corres- 
pondence and reports relating to 
this matter are public property and 
easy to be examined by any one 
who cares to turn over the pages of 
those voluminous records. Upon 
carefully re-reading these reports 
and, from statements furnished me 
by men who were with me, and 
which I subjoin to this narrative, 
there are some things which have 
become more clear to me now, than 
even at the time. One fact which has 
grown upon me is, that it is more 



Jefferson Davis. 49 

than probable that the Commander 
of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry 
knew when he left Macon, of the 
one hundred thousand dollars re- 
ward which had been offered for the 
capture of Jeff. Davis. In the light 
of the evidence it seems to me im- 
possible that he should not have 
known it, and the action which he 
took with respect to the capture 
has driven me to the unwilling be- 
lief that for some reason he was either 
not unwilling that such a collision 
should take place, or that he was 
grossly negligent with respect to 
preventing it. 

As early as the 30th of April, 
General Grant had begun to take 
measures to secure, if possible, the 
capture of the president of the 
Southern Confederacy, and had given 
strict orders to have the Mississippi 
river patrolled and guarded. Gen- 



50 The Capture of 

eral Thomas had also taken meas- 
ures to accomplish the same end. 
Reports had begun to come in from 
different sources that Davis had 
been trying to escape with several 
millions of specie. On the 2d day 
of May, 1865, President Johnson 
had issued a proclamation, offering 
a reward of "one hundred thousand 
dollars for the arrest of Jefferson 
Davis, twenty-five thousand dollars 
for the arrest of Clement C. Clay, 
and others." 

On May 6th, General Wilson at 
Macon, Georgia, issued hand-bills, 
2l fac- simile of which is produced in 
the February Centiuy, 1890, in the 
article upon **The Pursuit and Cap- 
ture of Jefferson Davis," offering a 
reward of one hundred thousand dol- 
lars in gold, and these were posted 
in Macon as early as the 7th, and 
widely distributed throughout all 



Jefferson Davis. 51 

that region. Colonel Pritchard did 
not leave Macon until eight o'clock 
on the evening of the 7th, and after 
these hand-bills must have been 
thoroughly distributed throughout 
that whole vicinity. 

In this I am confirmed by the 
statement of Clark W. Seely, of 
Company D, First Wisconsin Cav- 
alry, which is hereto annexed. 
Seely was wounded in the collision, 
and was sent back in the ambulance 
of the Fourth Michigan, and upon 
the road to Abbeville upon the very 
day of the collision, he heard some 
of Colonel Pritchard's command 
asking who would get the reward, 
and upon Seely's question they in- 
formed him that there was a reward 
of one hundred thousand dollars for 
Davis's capture. 

The circumstances of the collision 
itself seem scarcely able to be ex- 



52 The Capture of 

plained upon any other theory. I 
venture to call attention to two state- 
ments made by General Wilson re- 
specting this matter. In General 
Wilson's report to General John 
Rawlins, dated January 17, 1867, 
he used this significant language re- 
ferring to my meeting with Colonel 
Pritchard: "Colonel Harnden having 
informed him that he had force 
enough to cope with Davis, Colonel 
Pritchard determined to march an- 
other road leading to Irwinville by 
a more circuitous route. Why he 
did not send a courier on the trail 
pursued by Colonel Harnden to no- 
tify the latter of his intentions, has 
not been explained. This would 
probably have prevented the colli- 
sion which afterward occurred be- 
tween his regiment and that of Colo- 
nel Harnden, and would not have 



Jefferson Davis. 53 

rendered the capture of Davis less 
certain.""^ 

In his article in the CeJiUiry Mag- 
azine for February, 1890, General 
Wilson says: "Unfortunately, Colo- 
nel Pritchard had failed to apprise 
Colonel Harnden of his plan of op- 
erations, and the latter, entirely 
unconscious of all that had occurred 
since he left Abbeville at three 
o'clock the previous afternoon, had 
called his men without the blare of 
bugles from their slumber, and after 
a hasty breakfast of coffee and hard 
bread, had taken the road to gather 
in the party which he had been pur- 
suing with such untiring energy for 
two days and nights." ... A 
careful examination of all the re- 
ports made by Colonel Pritchard to 
the various officers fail to show that 



*Part I. Vol. XLIX, page 377, Official Rec- 
ords of the Union and Confederate Armies. 



54 The Capture of 

any special precaution was taken by 
him to prevent the collision, and 
the differences in his reports seem 
very marked, as the necessity for 
making excuses for his negligence 
became more apparent. 

In his report of May 25th to the 
Secretary of War, he says: "Sharp 
firing was commenced between the 
dismounted forces under Lieutenant 
Purinton, and what was supposed 
at the time to be the rebel forces 
guarding a train. The firing was 
about one hundred rods in rear of 
the camp, and across a narrow 
swamp. I immediately ordered all 
my forces forward to the scene of 
the firing, leaving only a force suf- 
ficient to guard the camp and pris- 
oners. On arriving on the ground, 
I found my men engaging a force of 
dismounted men who were concealed 
behind trees, etc. I at once formed 



Jefferson Davis. 55 

my men in line, dismounted them, 
threw out a line of skirmishers, who 
were advancing handsomely, when 
I became apprehensive that we were 
contending with some of our own 
men, from the determination dis- 
played on their part and the pecu- 
liar report of their firearms. I 
ordered my men at once to cease 
firing, and rode out towards our 
opponents and hallooed to them, 
asking them who they were, and re- 
ceived the reply, "First Wisconsin." 
In his report to General Minty, 
July 2, 1865. 

Speaking of the Davis camp, he 
says: "I at first thought that it 
must be the First Wisconsin, but 
upon further inquiry, learned that 
the party had tents and wagons, 
which I knew was not the case with 
the First Wisconsin, but thinking 
that there might still be some mis- 



56 The Capture of 

take regarding the character of the 
party, I gave my officers strict or- 
ders with reference to learning the 
character of all parties before firing 
upon them."^ 

Lieutenant Purinton in his affi- 
davit on page 529 of the same rec- 
ords, speaking of Colonel Pritchard, 
says: * 'Giving me special orders, 
and cautioning me to ascertain the 
character of all parties and men 
whom I might meet before firing 
upon them, as the First Wisconsin 
Cavalry might be on the road. In 
obedience to said orders, I success- 
fully executed my mission in gain 
ing the rear of the camp without dis- 
covery. " 

And he then states how he carried 

out that order, showing that he used 

no efforts to make known who he 

was, although he was expecting the 

*Part I, vol. 49, p. 532, Oflficial Records. 



Jefferson Davis. 57 

First Wisconsin to be at that very 
point at that moment. He says: 

"I had held my position for an 
hour or more when I heard mounted 
men approaching us from the rear, 
as we were then facing towards the 
camp. When they had approached 
to within fifteen or twenty rods of 
my position I discovered that 
there were six or eight of them, 
when I stepped out in person and 
halted them, and received the reply 
at first "Friends," when I ordered 
one to ride forward, which they re- 
fused to do. I then asked them 
what command they belonged to, 
then they replied, 'By G — d, you 
are the men we are looking for.* I 
then told them that if we were the 
men they were looking for to come 
forward, when they immediately 
wheeled and fled, when I, supposing 
they must be the enemy, ordered 



58 The Capture of 

my men to fire on them." Though 
one feels like commending the kind- 
ness of Lieutenant Purinton in thus 
endeavoring to relieve his superior 
officer from blame, by stating that 
he carried out the orders of Colonel 
Pritchard, in this blundering, negli- 
gent, and almost disobedient man- 
ner, still it seems from the above 
conflicting statements that Lieuten- 
ant Purinton, although willing to 
assume the blame, is not in reality 
the one responsible for it. Both he 
and Colonel Pritchard expected the 
First Wisconsin at that very point. 
Both of them say that they were 
looking for them to come. Both 
say that they were endeavoring and 
taking unusual pains, but neither 
claim that they told or in any way 
disclosed their identity before firing, 
and acknowledge that they were at 
a place where they say they ex- 



Jcffersofi Davis. 59 

pected the First Wisconsin Cavalry 
to be at that very moment. 

Lieutenant Purinton expected 
friends from that direction, not 
enemies. My command expected 
enemies, and not friends at the 
point where Sergeant Hussy was 
met and halted. He did his duty 
as a brave man and a skillful soldier. 
He retreated and did not give him- 
self up in an unsoldierly way at the 
command to advance from the lips 
of a supposed enemy. 

The statement of Private Seely, 
hereto annexed is singularly perti- 
nent. He says: "As soon as we 
halted, the men that were left at the 
ferry, (a portion of Pritchard's com- 
mand) crowded around and wanted 
to know how the men came to fire 
into the Wisconsin men. Some 
said: 'we were ordered to fire, so 
we fired, but we were sure it was 



6o The Capture of 

Union Cavalry by the rattle of their 
sabers.' I heard several say the 
same thing." 

The above statement corresponds 
with Colonel Pritchard's remarks in 
his report, ''the peculiar report of 
their fire arms," and explains the 
impression evidently made upon 
General La Grange, as shown by his 
endorsement upon my report, in 
which he characterized the affair as 
"An act having every appearance 
of unsoldierly selfishness in appro- 
priating by deception the fruits of 
another's labor and thus attaining 
an unearned success, resulting in 
unnecessary bloodshed and a sacri- 
fice of lives for which no atonement 
can be made. What may have been 
intended merely as an act of bad 
faith toward a fellow soldier, re- 
sulted in a crime." 

It is painful to think that the im- 



Jefferson Davis. 6i 

pression which was made upon Gen- 
eral La Grange, that the reward 
which had been offered may have 
been a reason for this undue negli- 
gence, on the part of Colonel Pritch- 
ard, and his men, occasioned this 
unfortunate collision, yet it is diffi- 
cult to forget the promptness with 
which Colonel Pritchard claimed the 
reward for himself and men. 

I cannot forbear noting, that with 
respect to the blame, the following 
at least must be admitted. General 
Wilson said Colonel Harnden was 
not to blame. Colonel O. H. La 
Grange said that Colonel Harnden 
was not to blame. The committee 
of Congress exonerated me. Some 
attempt was made to place some 
blame on Sergeant George Hussey, 
who commanded my advance guard, 
but I exonerate him from any blame 
and certify that he acted as a brave 



62 The Capture of 

and experienced soldier should act, 
when challenged in the dark by one 
whom he believed to be an enemy. 

The memory of that sad collision 
has been with me through all these 
succeeding years. Three of the 
brave men of my command have 
carried their crippled forms through 
life as the result of what might 
have been easily prevented. And 
though, it is with deep regret, I feel 
justified in calling attention to those 
passages in the official records which 
seem to bear upon the question as 
to who is to blame for the collision. 

It is a great pleasure to me to 
leave upon record a testimonial of 
my respect for the bravery and the 
character of the men who composed 
the First Wisconsin Cavalry, a regi- 
ment which had a splendid military 
record, much of which has never 
been recorded, and which will now 



Jefferson Davis. 63 

be soon forgotten, as the men who 
composed the regiment are fast re- 
ceiving their final discharge from 
duty. This regiment was in the 
Second Brigade, First Division Cav- 
alry Corps, Military Division of the 
Mississippi, Army of the Cumber- 
land. The corps was commanded 
by Major-General James H. Wilson; 
the division by Major-General E. M. 
McCook; the brigade by Colonel O. 
H. La Grange, and the regiment by 
Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Harnden. 
This regiment was raised by Pro- 
fessor Edward Daniels, State Geol- 
gfist, and he became its first Colonel. 
It went into camp in July, 1861, at 
Ripon, and was at first quartered in 
the college buildings, and afterwards 
quartered in tents at Kenosha until 
it left the State. The regiment, as 
a whole, or in part, was in between 
fifty and sixty engagements with 



64 The Capture of 

the enemy, and lost by death four 
hundred and three men. My own 
original company (L) lost forty-nine 
men. The first chaplain, George 
Dunmore, was killed. The first 
surgeon, Dr. Gregory, was also 
killed, and among the killed were 
Lieutenant-Colonel Wm. H. Tor- 
rey, Major Nathan Payne, Lieuten- 
antWm. J. Phillips, Lieutenant Shel- 
don E. Vosberg. A number of the 
officers died by disease, among 
whom were Major Henry L. Eg- 
gleston, Lieutenant Josiah Bent, 
Lieutenant Geo. W. Frederick, 
Lieutenant William S. Cooper, Lieu- 
tenant Charles W. Clinton; while 
Lieutenant Charles N. Hoag, and 
Lieutenant Henry W. Getchell died 
of disease or wounds in rebel prisons; 
and Colonel O. H. La Grange was 
taken prisoner and remained in con- 
finement for a long time. 



Jefferson Davis. 65 

Of the forty-eight commissioned 
ofificers that went out with the regi- 
ment, only four of the original ones 
were mustered out with it July 19, 
1865, when the regiment was mus- 
tered out of service of the United 
States, at Edgefield, Tenn. Of the 
twelve original Captains, there are 
only two or three yet living. 

The men seemed to be picked 
men, and I recall many instances of 
their bravery and devotion to duty. 
At the time of the collision with the 
Fourth Michigan, it was difficult to 
restrain them from charging upon a 
force apparently greatly superior in 
numbers, and I remember when 
I gave Lieutenant Clinton the 
order to prepare for a saber charge, 
two of his men understanding that 
I ordered the charge, drew their 
sabers, gave spur to their horses, 
and were half way to the enemy, 



66 The Capture of 

when I called them back to the 
ranks. 

I am impressed with the belief 
that the importance of the capture 
of Jefferson Davis is sometimes over- 
looked, as being in reality the close 
of the war. After his capture there 
was no one left of prominence or 
influence in the southern confeder- 
acy, who believed that the war 
could continue. All reports make 
it clear that he had not yet given 
up hope of in some way carrying on 
hostilities further, and there were in 
the south a great many men who 
would willingly have joined him had 
it been possible. Were it not for his 
capture, he very likely might have 
crossed the Mississippi to General 
Kirby Smith, and there have gath- 
ered together the troops of the trans- 
Mississippi, and have continued the 
war for a long period, entailing a 
further great loss of life. 



Jefferson Davis. 67 

It is well-known that after his 
flight from Richmond he refused to 
consider his cause hopeless, and was 
determined to continue the war even 
after his generals in the East, at a 
council, had decided that further 
fighting was useless. 

It has always been painful to me 
to think that in some respect, at 
least, Jefferson Davis was personally 
responsible for much of the suffering 
of the poor men who starved to death 
in Andersonville and Libby prisons. 
During the months of March and 
April, 1865, when the south would 
have been short of provisions, if 
ever, Major-General Wilson with his 
Cavalry, and with not less than fif- 
teen thousand men and eighteen 
thousand animals, passed down from 
Alabama to Selma, on the Alabama 
river, thence east through to Mont- 
gomery, and on to Macon, Georgia. 



68 The Capture of 

We foraged off the country, and 
lacked nothing in the way of food 
for men or animals. We found grain 
enough to feed our horses, and ham, 
bacon, and sweet potatoes for all 
the men, and this, it must be re- 
membered, was only comparatively 
a short distance from Andersonville, 
where thousands of Union soldiers 
were starving to death. I am im- 
pressed with the belief that Jeffer- 
son Davis might have prevented 
much of that suffering, and that he 
more than any other one man, was 
responsible for the same. 

Is it true, as stated in some pa- 
pers, that some Pennsylvania and 
Illinois troops were there f 

It is not true. There were none 
but the First Wisconsin and Fourth 
Michigan Cavalry present. 



Jefferson Davis. 69 

How ivas it that the 07ie hundred 
tJiotisand dollars reward offered for 
the capture of Davis zuas at first all 
awarded to the Fourth Michigan 
Cavalry? 

I was kept on duty with the 
First Wisconsin Cavalry down in 
Georgia until the following July, 
when we were marched to Nash- 
ville, Tennessee, and mustered 
out of service. In the meantime 
Colonel Pritchard had an opportu- 
nity to visit Washington and tell 
his story, and the consequence was 
that the whole was first awarded to 
the Michigan regiment. 

For some unaccountable reason 
my official report was delayed in 
reaching Washington, and for some 
time I made no claim to any share 
in the reward, supposing that Davis 
would be tried and executed, and 
in that case I would not have taken 



70 The Capture of 

what might be considered blood 
money; but when it became certain 
that he was not to be punished, I 
went to Washington and laid before 
Congress a claim on behalf of the 
First Wisconsin Cavalry to a share 
of the money. 

A committee of Congress was ap- 
pointed, of which Mr. Washburn, of 
Massachusetts, was chairman, to 
investigate the whole matter. After 
due consideration, this committee 
unanimously reported that General 
Wilson, Colonel Pritchard, Captain 
Yeoman, and myself should receive 
three thousand dollars each, and 
that the balance should be divided 
among those who were actually pres- 
ent and took part in the capture, 
according to rank and pay, the mem- 
bers of each regiment being treated 
alike. I was exonerated from all 
blame for the collision. 



Jefferson Davis. 71 

When the bill as reported came 
before the house, every republican, 
except the five members from Mich- 
igan, voted for it. 



In closing this narrative, I am re- 
minded that as the colored man 
primarily was the cause of the war, 
so it was a colored man who really 
brought it to a close. I refer to my 
colored servant Bill, who was an 
unusual character. Just how he came 
to be my servant, I scarcely know. 
He attached himself to me quite 
early in the last campaign, and re- 
mained with me until the regiment 
was mustered out. He was ener- 
getic, faithful, devoted and intelli- 
gent, far beyond the average. He 
always knew how to forage, and I 
could safely trust him to provide me 
with something to eat, even though 
hams and chickens could not be 



72 The Captuj-e of 

found by other foragers. It was he 
who brought to me the information 
without which the capture would 
have been impossible. It has been 
to me a source of regret that he 
did not share more largely in the 
reward which was given. When I 
left him, he was made happy in the 
possession of an old mule and some 
means of transportation, and had 
already formed new plans. I am 
thoroughly convinced that had he 
not been along with me on that ex- 
pedition I should have known noth- 
ing of Jefferson Davis having been 
through Dublin on that day, and on 
the morrow I should have crossed 
the Oconee River, and gone on to- 
wards Savannah, and Jefferson Davis 
would have escaped capture, and 
very likely got over the Mississippi 
River to General Kirby Smith. 
In preparing this narrative of the 




Military l)^>.i<>n .'♦fivsi.ssii»|ii, •" , \), 

One HnnOmi ThoiiJianit^Joll^ Kcwara J 

m Gold, will ^ paid to any persoTi or persoi^s who w\\ a|i(v|ffw, 
prehendjinddelivpr JEFPERSOM n.iVIS to any of lh«-Miiy|l\^ 
itary authorities of the United States) ' V^l^ 

S<-vi-.;,t .nlHi^Ht of jptcle, rvfvrwA to W Ht(> him, »v(ll bcrumc 'ht- 



Copy of a Handbill Picked Up in Georgia After the War. 

[From a Reduced Facsimile in The Century.'] 



Jefferson Davis. 73 

circumstance of the capture of Davis, 
I have been assisted by the state- 
ments furnished me by many of my 
old comrades in arms, some of 
which I here subjoin. It has been 
a great pleasure to me to renew 
after nearly a third of a century my 
associations with them by letter, 
and to read the kind expressions of 
good-will which they have sent. I 
realize that the present is no time 
for prejudice and passion to control 
the hearts of the old veterans so near 
the end of the final march. I have 
endeavored only to state the facts 
as correctly as possible, using all 
sources of information at my com- 
mand, realizing too the frailty of 
human memory, and how possible it 
is for even the best and the most 
sincere to be mistaken. 

To my old comrades in arms, to 
whom this narrative may come, I 



74 The Capture. 

can only express my deep and fer- 
vent regards and best wishes for 
your remaining years, while waiting 
for your final summons when the 
general assembly shall once more re- 
form all the ranks of our old regi- 
ment. 



I. 

statement of Sergeant Hussey. 

My name is George G. Hussey; I was 
a sergeant in Company D, First Regi- 
ment, Wisconsin Cavalry. I was one of 
a detachment of the First Wisconsin 
Cavalry under Colonel Henry Harnden 
sent in pursuit of Jeff. Davis, the Presi- 
dent of the Southern Confederacy, and 
I was present at his capture. It was on 
the morning of May lo, 1865, and before 
daylight that we were called to stand to 
horse. It was then that Colonel Harn- 
den said to me: "Sergeant Hussey, you 
will take six men and ride a little in ad- 
vance, keep a sharp lookout and report 
to me anything you see, for we are 
close up to the enemy, and will prob- 
ably strike them this morning, so be 
very careful. March." I then led 
out, the Colonel with the main col- 
umn following close behind. It was 
quite dark and the track we were follow- 
ing was only a trail through the pine 
[75] 



76 The Capture of 

woods. We went forward about one mile 
or so when suddenly out of the darkness 
came the challenge, "Halt, who comes 
there?" I answered, "Friends." Then 
came the order, "Dismount and come 
forward and let yourself be known." I 
could just see the forms of men about 
twenty or thirty yards away, and seeing 
there was a large number of them I 
spoke to my men to retreat, as we turned 
our horses about, I shouted "Go to hell." 
At this they fired a volley which wounded 
three of my six men. Turning back we 
soon met Colonel Harnden coming up 
on a gallop at the head of a squad of 
men. I told the Colonel that we had 
run into their pickets, and that some of 
my men were killed or wounded. The 
Colonel said, "Get out of the way and 
let us get at them." I then got my men 
out of the road, and the Colonel, with 
his men, went forward at a gallop, but 
they soon received a volley which checked 
them for a moment, the balance of the 
men coming up, the Colonel got them 
into line and then charged upon the en- 
emy, but before doing so, the enemy gave 



Jefferson Davis. 77 

us the third volley, firing too high to 
do us much harm. We drove them be- 
fore us into a swamp where one of them 
was captured, and from this prisoner we 
learned to our great surprise that our 
opponents were Union soldiers, and of 
the Fourth Michigan Cavalry. 

The camp of Jeff. Davis was near at 
hand, and his capture was effected 
shortly after the collision took place. 

Not having any intimation of the pres- 
ence of Union troops in that vicinity, 
and after being so strictly cautioned by 
the Colonel to look out for the enemy, I 
feel that I should have been derelict in 
duty had I obeyed the challenge to dis- 
mount and gone forward and surrendered 
myself and men, and thus let the column 
go on into a trap and been slaughtered, 
as certainly would have been the case 
had our opponents been enemies, as we 
had every reason to suppose they were. 
I have since learned that some of the 
officers of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry, 
those that so wickedly waylaid us, in 
their report say, that the collision was 
caused by the improper conduct of the 



78 The Capture of 

sergeant in command of the advance of 
the First Wisconsin Cavalry, and his im- 
proper reply when challenged. 

Now if was I blamable, I submit to any 
old soldier, what should I have done un- 
der the circumstances? Colonel Harnden 
and General La Grange, whose opinion I 
value more than all of the officers of the 
Fourth Michigan, say that I did right 
and acted as a good soldier should have 
done under the circumstances. The 
Lieutenant in command of the party, 
who so recklessly fired upon us, says in 
his report that he challenged when v/e 
were eighteen or twenty rods away, and 
pretends to give quite a conversation be- 
tween him and me. Now I held no con- 
versation with him except what I have 
related, and further it is not at all likely 
that any talk such as he describes, could 
have been heard at a distance of eighteen 
or twenty rods apart in a thick wood; 
the idea that men could have been seen 
so far away, is simply preposterous, and 
only told to try to justify him in his 
wantonly firing upon a party, whom he 
had every reason to believe were Union 



Jefferson Davis. 79 

men. The collision which was thus in- 
augurated resulted in the death of two 
of the Michigan soldiers, and the wound- 
ing of several of both regiments. 
George G. Hussey, 
Late Sergeant Company C, 
First Wisconsin Cavalry. 

II. 

Statement of Clark W. Seeley. 

State of Minnesota, \ 
County of Jackson. \ ' 

Clark W. Seeley, being duly sworn on 
oath, says: "I was a private soldier of 
Company D, First Wisconsin Cavalry 
Volunteers. On the morning of May 
10, 1865, I was with the command of 
Lieutenant-Colonel Harnden. Sergeant 
George Hussey, myself, and five others 
were detailed to ride in advance, and or- 
dered to keep a sharp lookout ahead, for 
the Colonel expected we would strike 
Jeff. Davis' escort that morning. We had 
marched a mile or so, when we were 
halted by some one a few rods in ad- 
vance of us in the dark, who said: "Who 
comes there ? " Hussey answered, 



8o The Capture of 

"Friends." We were ordered to dis- 
mount and come forward, which Hus- 
sey refused to do, and ordered us to re- 
treat, which we did. As soon as we 
moved, the halting party fired a volley 
into us, wounding Gus Sykes and myself, 
and I think Apply. We retired a few 
rods, and immediately the Colonel, with 
his command, coming as agreed upon. 
Sykes and I dismounted here, and the 
rest moved on after the firing party. We 
had no ambulance with us. After day- 
light Sykes and I were put in one of the 
captured ones, and sent with the Fourth 
Michigan. When we got back to the 
ferry the same day, where Colonel Prit- 
chard had left some of his men the day 
before, we camped for the night. These 
men came crowding around, and asked 
how it happend that they fired into the 
Wisconsin men. Some of them answered 
and said: "We were ordered to fire, so 
we fired, but we knew they were Union 
cavalry by the rattle of the sabers' 
scabbards." I heard several say the same. 
At the same time some one said: "Well, 
who will get the reward?" and one of the 



Jefferson Davis. 8i 

men who had been with us said: "We 
will, of course, we have got Jeff. Davis." 
I asked them what reward, and one re- 
plied: "Didn't you know there is one 
hundred thousand dollars reward for the 
capture of Davis?" I said no, I did not. 
He said: "Well, there is." I replied to 
him: "If that is so, I now know why 
Pritchard ran around us when he said he 
was going to stay at the ferry." I heard 
the reward talked of by other Michigan 
men, frequently in the next few days. 
Clark W. Seeley, 
Company C, First Wisconsin Cavalry. 
Subscribed and sworn to before me, 
this 26th day of February, 1896. 

E. G. Grimes, 
Notary Public, Jackson County, Minnesota. 

III. 
Verified copy of the pocket diary of W. 
O. Hargrave, Sergeant Major of the 
First Wisconsin Cavalry, relating to 
the capture of Jefferson Davis^ on May 
10, 1865. 

"On May 6, 1865, lying m Macon, 
Georgia, part of our regiment, Colonel 
Harnden in command, was ordered out 



82 The Capture of 

to the south to look out for and try and 
intercept Mr. Davis, who was reported 
to be trying to make his escape after the 
surrender of General Lee. At 5.00 
o'clock p. M. one battalion of our regi- 
ment started on the expedition. 

Sunday, May 7, 1865, very warm. We 
are out on hunt for old Jeff. Davis. 
We hope that we may drop on him. 
Travelled all last night, reaching Marion 
at break of day, making about twenty- 
three miles. No news of Jeff. yet. Left 
company A to guard cross roads, and 
patrol the vicinity, without stopping only 
to feed horses and get dinner; pushing 
on to Dublin, reaching there about 5:00 
o'clock p. M., making about forty-five 
miles from Macon. 

Monday, May 8, 1865. Cloudy, with 
quite a rain at noon, and light showers 
in afternoon. Broke camp at 4:00 o'clock 
A. M., and on strength of information 
gained, though not very conclusive, 
started south on the Jacksonville road, 
along which we pushed some distance, 
gaining some more confirmatory infor- 
mation. Before noon, the trail left the 



Jefferson Davis. 83 

main road, and took into the pine woods 
on an old road leading to tiie Poor Robin 
ferry, on the Ocamulgee river. Came to 
the place where the parties camped last 
night at noon to-day. Went into camp 
at night about twenty miles from the 
Poor Robin ferry. 

Tuesday, May 9th. Cool and pleasant 
after the rain. Broke camp at the grey 
of day and started on the trail, some 
times very indistinct through pine 
woods, and swamps indescribable, reach- 
ing the Poor Robin ferry at 11:00 o'clock 
A. M. Took one and three-quarters 
hours in crossing our detachment, num- 
ber about seventy in all. Halted an 
hour to feed at noon at Abbeville, and 
just as our bugle sounded the advance, 
six or seven mounted men in our uni- 
forms charged by us on another road 
which came in here. We were suprised 
somewhat, thinking that none of our 
forces were in the vicinity. They proved 
to be the Fourth Michigan. Our colonel 
stopped and communicated to the 
colonel of the Fourth Michigan, Colonel 
Pritchard, what information he had 



84 The Capture of 

gained in regard to Davis and his party, 
and asked the colonel of the Fourth 
Michigan what his orders were, and he 
informed our colonel that he was to 
guard the ferry and patrol the river to 
guard against Davis crossing. We pushed 
on, following the Davis trail, sometimes 
quite distinct, and at others faint. At 
about 9:00 o'clock p. m. our Colonel 
called a halt, and gave me orders to have 
the men rest on their arms, and told me 
to wake the men at 3:00 o'clock a. m., 
not sounding the bugle, and to send a 
sergeant and six men in advance. 

Wednesday, May loth, broke camp* at 
3:45, with Sergeant Hussey and six men 
in advance. Had made only about two 
miles when three volleys were fired on 
our advance, wounding two or three of 
our men. Forward was the word from 
our brave Colonel, and it found a quick 
response from every heart, for we thought 
of course that we had struck the camp or 
forces of the arch-traitor, and the resolve 
was to conquer or die. Our number was 
only sixty-five or seventy men. The or- 
der was given to prepare to fight on foot, 



Jefferson Davis. 85 

and at the order, forward we went, at 
double quick to the front, in the face of 
a deadly fire from a supposed desperate 
foe. The firing was incessant. They 
had twenty to thirty dismounted men, the 
same that had fired on our advance guard, 
well posted, and had covered behind 
trees, but they were soon dislodged, and 
driven like chaff before the wind. By 
this time a larger mounted force con- 
fronted us, but were soon thrown into 
confusion and were driven by our brave 
boys half or three-quarters of a mile into 
a narrow swamp or swale, and within 
fifty or sixty rods of the Davis camp. 
Here we took two prisoners which, to 
our great surprise, proved to be the 
Fourth Michigan Cavalry. At which, 
our Colonel ordered firing stopped, we 
could hardly believe our eyes, the light 
was now strong enough to distmguish 
their uniforms. Our feelings could 
hardly be described or imagined. Sor- 
row and regret, yet not unalloyed, for 
Jeff, and his train were captured. We 
had done our duty, and the responsibil- 
ity of the collision must be on the Colo- 



86 The Capture of 

nel of the Fourth Michigan. I cannot 
explain it otherwise. His love of noto- 
riety had warped his sense of honor and 
justice. He had selected about one hun- 
dred and fifty of his best mount imme- 
diately after learning what he did from 
our Colonel, and had determined to 
snatch the prize from our grasp if possi- 
ble, and by a forced march had got ahead 
of both us and Jeff.'s train, and had 
thrown the twenty or thirty men across 
the trail, between us and Jeff.'s camp, the 
same that had fired on our advance, and 
while we were fighting, they had captured 
Jeff., but I don't envy their position when 
the facts became known. We had driven 
them a half mile or more, and had we 
not taken a prisoner and thus found that 
we were fighting our own men, we would 
have recaptured the train in less than 
twenty minutes. The fight lasted twenty 
or thirty minutes. Our loss, two or three 
wounded, two severely, and two horses 
shot. Their loss, two men killed, and a 
number wounded. The object of the 
expedition having been accomplished, 
Jeff, captured, soon as the wounded were 



Jefferson Davis. 87 

cared for, and some breakfast gotten, we 
started on our way back to Macon via 
Abbeville." 

And I would further state, that in ad- 
dition to the foregoing, copied from my 
diary, that immediately after the capture 
of Jeff. Davis, in talking with the Fourth 
Michigan men, I charged them with firing 
on us, knowing that we were not Jeff. 
Davis' men, and they admitted that they 
thought they were firing on us, and I 
further asked them why they did so, and 
in reply they said, that they had to obey 
orders. I then asked them what their 
orders were, and they told me that their 
orders were to allow no one to approach 
from that direction, and further, on our 
return, after the capture, when we reached 
Abbeville, from there into Macon, the 
road was strewn with handbills offering 
the reward of one hundred thousand 
dollars for the capture of Davis, and this 
was the first information that we had that 
there was any reward offered for Davis' 
capture. 

This to my mind explained why the 
Colonel of the Fourth Michigan ran the 



88 The Capture of 

risk and acted the part he did, in trying 
to snatch the prize from our grasp. 
W. O. Hargrave, 

Ripon, Wis. 

State of Wisconsin, ( 
Fond du Lac County. \ ' 

W. O. Hargrave, being duly sworn, on 
oath, says that the annexed and foregoing 
is a true copy of the original diary, kept 
by him while in the army of the United 
States during the War of the Rebellion — 
a member of the First Wisconsin Cavalry; 
that the entries in said diary were made 
at the time of the occurrences to which 
they relate, and while all the facts were 
fresh in his memory; that he has care- 
fully compared said copy with said orig- 
inal diary, and that it is a true transcript 
therefrom and the whole thereof, as to 
the incidents to which such copy relates. 
W. O. Hargrave. 

Subscribed and sworn to before me, 
this i2th day of October, 1897. 

A. E. DUNLAP, 

Notary Public^ Wisconsin. 



Jefferson Davis. 89 

IV. 

Affidavit of J. J. Appling, Orderly of 

Colonel Harnden. 

State of South Dakota, \ 
Marshall County. \ ^^* 
J. J. Appling, being duly sworn on 
oath, says that "On May 9, 1865, I was 
orderly for Colonel Harnden, commander 
of the First Wisconsin Cavalry. When 
in pursuit of Jefferson Davis, about noon 
of that day, we met the Fourth Michigan 
Cavalry, and I was present at a conver- 
sation which then and there took place 
between Colonel Pritchard of the Fourth 
Michigan Cavalry, and Colonel Harnden, 
of the First Wisconsin Cavalry. In re- 
sponse to the question asked by Colonel 
Harnden of Colonel Pritchard as to his 
orders. Colonel Pritchard replied that 
his orders were to go to Abbeville and 
patrol the river at that place, and he then 
and there told Colonel Harnden that he 
should observe those orders. Colonel 
Harnden then informed Colonel Pritch- 
ard that for several days he had been fol- 
lowing Jefferson Davis, and that clearly 
before night he would have him. At this 



90 The Capture of 

information Colonel Pritchard asked 
Colonel Harnden to take one hundred 
and fifty of his best mounted men to as- 
sist in the capture. Colonel Harnden re- 
plied that he had enough to take Davis 
and his escort. Shortly after this con- 
versation, the Fourth Michigan Cavalry 
started for the river, Colonel Harnden 
and myself going back as far as where 
our command had taken the trail of 
Davis, and rejoined the regiment. I was 
present at the collision, which occurred 
between the First Wisconsin and the 
Fourth Michigan Cavalry, and immedi- 
ately after the capture of Jefferson Davis, 
in a conversation with the orderly of 
Colonel Pritchard, he told me that there 
was a reward of one hundred thousand 
dollars for the arrest of Jefferson Davis, 
Clement C. Clay, and I think some others. 
This was while we were still on the 
ground where the capture took place, and 
this was the first time that any of the 
First Wisconsin knew anything of any 
reward having been offered. In the same 
conversation, the orderly told me that 
after Colonel Harnden and myself had 



Jefferson Davis. 91 

left the place where the two Colonels 
had their conversation, that Colonel 
Pritchard, after arriving at the river 
where he was to stay for orders, at once 
gave orders for one hundred and fifty of 
his best mounted men to charge down 
the river towards Irvingville, to which 
place Colonel Harnden had said Davis 
was going, and get between Davis and us, 
and check us while the main command 
came along and capture Davis. 

J. J. Appling, 
Co. K, First Wisconsin Cavalry, detailed 
as orderly for Colonel Harnden. 
Subscribed and sworn to before me 
this 7th day of February, 1898. 

W. O. Campbell, 
Clerk Circuit Court, Marshall County, 
South Dakota. 



92 The Capture of 

V. 

Affidavit of Qus W. Sylces, Private of 
Company D. , First Wisconsin. 

Cattle Falls, \ 
Washington State. \ ' 

Gus. W. Sykes, being duly sworn on 
oath, with respect to the facts of the cap- 
ture of Jefferson Davis, says: "I was one 
of the advance squad on the morning of 
May lo, 1865, advancing upon Davis' 
camp. As we were advancing, we were 
challenged by what proved to be the 
Fourth Michigan Cavalry, and by what 
we supposed was the guard of the ambu- 
lances, which we were following. There 
was only one man to be seen; as he chal- 
lenged. Sergeant George Hussey replied 
'Friends.' The man standing in the road 
said, 'Who are you?' Hussey replied, 
'Some of your own men.' Hussey then 
turned to his men saying, 'Save your- 
selves.' " 

Some of the boys behind us had partly 
turned around. I then said to Hussey, 
"You are not obeying orders," for as I 
had been in charge of the advance guard 



Jeffersoti Davis. 93 

the day before, I remembered that my 
orders were to charge if I saw anything 
that looked suspicious, and we were all 
in favor of a charge, but before I had 
scarcely spoken the words, they began 
firing, and at the second volley, Clark 
Seeley and myself were badly wounded. 
My honest opinion is there was no one 
to blame but Colonel Pritchard. I could 
have twisted his old neck for him when 
I found it out. I talked with the lieu- 
tenant in charge of the pickets, and he 
said Colonel Pritchard told him to look 
out, there were one hundred and sixty 
Texas rangers camped out on the road 
one and a half miles. He did not tell 
me that there were Union soldiers com- 
ing on that road, which he. Colonel 
Pritchard, knew, but the lieutenant did 
not. The above are the facts, just as I 
saw them. 

Gus. W. Sykes. 
Subscribed and sworn to before me, 
this 19th of March, 1898. 

N. B. Wheeler, 
Justice of the Peace. 



94 The Capture of 

VI. 
From the National Tribune. 

Washington, D. C, April 2, 1896. 

E. Richter, Company D, First Wiscon- 
sin Cavalry, St. Paul, Minnesota, says: 
"In your issue of March 12th, General 
Minty gives an account of the doings of 
this Fourth Michigan Cavalry during 
the war. I have no reason to doubt but 
that the boys of that regiment were as 
brave as any other soldiers, but when 
any one of that regiment claims credit 
for the capture of Jefferson Davis, it sets 
my bood boiling, knowing the circum- 
stances, and that Lieutenant-Colonel 
Pritchard had two of his brave men mur- 
dered, and several wounded to accom- 
plish his act of treachery toward his fel- 
low officer, Colonel H. Harnden of the 
First Wisconsin Cavalry. 

The less they say about the capture of 
Davis the better for them, for the blood 
of the brave men killed and wounded, in 
the contest between the Fourth Michi- 
gan and the First Wisconsin is upon 
Colonel Pritchard. For particulars i 



Jeffersopi Davis. 95 

refer you to the official report of Colonel 
Harnden, dated May 13, 1865, endorsed 
by Colonel O. H. La Grange, then com- 
manding brigade and on file in War 
Record office, War Department, Wash- 
ington, D. C." 

Signed, Fred Richter. 

VII. 

Endorsement Upon Colonel Harnden's 
Report of the Capture of Jeff. Davis. 

Headquarters, Second Brigade, First 
Cavalry Division, M. D. M., Macon, 
Georgia, May 14, 1865. 

Respectfully forwarded. 
From this report it appears that Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Harnden faithfully dis- 
charged his duty and no blame can at- 
tach to him in relation to the unfortunate 
collision between his detachment and 
Colonel Pritchard's, which he had every 
reason to believe remained at Abbeville. 
It is, however, a source of painful regret 
that the satisfaction experienced in this 
consummation is clouded by the knowl- 
edge that an act having every appearance 



96 The Capture of 

of unsoldierly selfishness in appropria- 
ting by deception the fruits of another's 
labors, and thus attaining unearned suc- 
cess, resulted in unnecessary bloodshed 
and a sacrifice of lives for which no 
atonement can be made. What may have 
been intended merely as an act of bad 
faith toward a fellow soldier, resulted in 
a crime, and for this closing scene of the 
rebellion, inglorious in itself, but historic 
by circumstances, it is difficult to repress 
a wish that accident had not afforded the 
Government a Representative above sus- 
picion. 
(Signed) O. H. LaGrange, 

Colonel Commanding. 

VIII. 
Letter from General O. H. LaGrange. 

259 W. 136 St., N. Y., \ 
4th Feb'y, 1898. \ 
General Henry Harnden: 

Madison, Wis. 

Dear Friend: My recollection of the 

Davis capture is as follows: General 

Wilson sent for me and said: "Captain, 

Yeomans, of General Alexander's scouts, 



Jefferson Davis. 97 

has found Mr. Davis in upper Georgia 
near little Washington, where Bob 
Toombs lives, and is moving south, trail- 
ing the confederate party, and I want to 
send and capture the party. Have you 
a battalion that you can send for that 
purpose?" I replied, "yes, I can send a 
good battalion in fair condition from the 
First Wisconsin." 

He asked, "Are the horses shod and 
in condition for a long rapid march?" I 
answered, "General, the First Wisconsin 
is always in condition to march or fight." 
He then asked, "Have you a suitable of- 
ficer to put in command?" I said, "Yes, 
Henry Harnden, an old puritan, who will 
follow the trail to the death, and I think 
he would rather kill Davis than catch 
him." Wilson then showed me his com- 
munication from Captain Yeomans, and 
said, "Davis is evidently making for 
Texas to join Kirby Smith, but we will 
cut him off." I replied, "If Mr. Davis is 
wise, he will turn east when he finds you 
are here and try to get out through 
Florida to Nassau." He then produced 
a map which he examined, and then 



98 The Capture of 

said, "I will send two battalions, by dif- 
ferent routes, to make sure of catching 
him. I am concerned for the safety of 
Captain Yeomans, he is very venture- 
some." General Croxton then came in, 
and General Wilson told him briefly the 
news from Yeomans, and asked, "Can 
you send a battalion for the pursuit?" 
General Croxton who, in the absence of 
General McCook, was in command of 
the First Division, explained that "the 
horses of his brigade had been so used 
up by the raid through Tuscaloosa that 
he did not think a battalion in condition 
for a long rapid march could be selected 
from the whole brigade." General Wil- 
son said, "all right, I'll send to Minty." 
He then asked me, "How long before 
your battalion will be ready to march?" 
I answered, "In five minutes after I reach 
camp, and I'll run my horse all the way." 
As I reached the door to come out, leav- 
ing him and Croxton together, General 
Wilson called out: "LaGrange, I think 
one of these parties will capture Mr. 
Davis, there will be some eclat about it. 
Don't you want to go in command of 



Jefferson Davis. 99 

both detachments?" I replied, "If Mr. 
Davis had a brigade down there, I'd like 
to take the Second and whip him, but I'll 
be damned if I want to turn constable 
after the war is over." All this is very 
distinct in my mind because I wrote it 
down in a letter at that time, which let- 
ter I have recently re-read. 

I think Generals Wilson and Croxton 
were preparing your instructions when I 
left, and if you received them from 
Croxton, it was to save time and because 
he was commanding our Division tem- 
porarily in McCook's absence. 

But I wish to emphazize the fact, that 
/ designated you for the duty, as I have 
no doubt General Wilson will remember. 
When you returned and sent in your ad- 
mirable and very modest report, I imme- 
diately endorsed it, and sent a copy 
through Division Headquarters to the 
Corps Headquarters, and another to save 
delay direct to General Wilson. 

The next morning the General said to 
me, "You were very severe on Colonel 
Pritchard in your endorsement of Harn- 
den's report, won't you withdraw the pa- 



loo The Capture of 

per and modify your endorsement?" I 
replied, "The facts are severe on Colonel 
Pritchard, my endorsement is true, and 
it must stand." After arguing ineffectu- 
ally to show me the unwisdom of differ- 
ences among ourselves now that the war 
was over, the General said, "Well, if you 
insist, don't you think Colonel Pritchard 
ought to have a copy of the paper?" I 
replied, "I sent him a copy by the same 
messenger who brought yours." The 
General asked, "What will you do if he 
calls you out?" I replied: "I will hit 
him, and have some respect for him af- 
terwards, but a man who will do what 
Colonel Pritchard has done will never 
call anybody out." 

You know the story of how your re- 
port with my endorsement, finally reached 
the files of the War Department through 
Fred. Richter. I do not remember when 
we got news of the reward offered for 
Davis, though I think I saw the posters 
making the announcement. General 
Wilson no doubt would recall it all dis- 
tinctly. Possibly Pritchard's regiment 
was camped across the river from town, 



Jefferson Davis. loi 

and did not see the posters which came 
out after you had marched. I would be- 
lieve Pritchard's statement that he did 
not know of the reward until after the 
capture, but for his dastardly conduct to- 
wards you in the pursuit, I do not be- 
lieve his statement because his conduct 
took from him all credit as a man, and 
lying, or perjury, or subornation of per- 
jury, would be natural for one who had 
deceived a fellow soldier to his injury, in 
the face of the enemy. When General 
Wilson sent me to Washington with let- 
ters to General Grant, General Howard, 
and Charles A. Dana, Assistant Secretary 
of War, I handed to General Hawkins, of 
General Grant's staff, a copy of a recom- 
mendation which had been approved by 
General Wilson, that "the reward be used 
to create a pension for the soldiers who 
were wounded, and the families of those 
who were killed in the encounter between 
your detachment and Pritchard's." Gen- 
eral Hawkins came out of General 
Grant's room into his own, where I was 
sitting, and said, "The General will en- 
dorse his approval." Whether that rec- 



I02 The Capture. 

ommendation went to the files, or went 
to hunt my endorsement on your report, 
I never knew or asked. In fact I never 
read the accounts of the controversy over 
the reward as published in the newspa- 
pers, I was too busy reading law at Al- 
bany. But one thing I knew then and 
know now, and that is that your conduct 
was manly, patriotic and honorable, as 
became your character, throughout that 
complicated matter, and I trust that with 
health fully restored, you may long con- 
tinue to enjoy the esteem and honor of 
your fellow citizens and comrades of the 
volunteers. 

Always your friend, 

O. H. LaGrange. 



List of officers and men of the First Wis- 
consin Cavalry, engaged in the pursuit 
and capture of Jefferson Davis. 

Henry Harnden, Lieutenant-Colonel. 
O. P. Clinton, Second Lieutenant, Co. B. 
W. O. Hargrave, Sergeant-Major. 
James J Aplin, Private, Company K. 
Austin M. Horr, Sergeant, Company A. 
David N. Bell, Private, Company A. 
William Billsback, Private, Company A. 
Martin M. Coleman, Private, Company A. 
William Dezer, Private, Company A. 
John Huntamer, Private, Company A. 
Gottlieb Kleinlein, Private, Company A. 
Sidney Leonard, Private, Company A. 
James McStilson, Private, Company A. 
Geo. W. Silsbee, Private, Company A. 
Christopher Steinbrook, Private, Compa'y A. 
Herbert Shelter, Private, Company A. 
Luther L. Blair, Sergeant, Company B. 
Melvin T. Olin, Sergeant, Company B. 
John Clark, Sergeant, Company B. 
Thomas P. Culbertson, Corporal, Comp'yB. 
James H. McCrary, Corporal, Company B. 
Ezra H. Stewart, Corporal, Company B. 
Albert L. Beardsley, Private, Company B. 
103 



104 I'h^ Capture of 

Thomas Coleman, Private, Company B. 
Rawson P. Franklin, Private, Company B. 
Sylvester Fairbanks, Private, Company B. 
William Gill, Private, Company B, 
William Grimes, Private, Company B. 
Lewis Jacobson, Private, Company B. 
Honore Leverner, Private, Company B. 
William Matski, Private, Company B. 
Ira Miller, Private, Company B. 
John L. Nolan, Private, Company B. 
John W. Norton, Private, Company B. 
Warren P. Otterson, Private, Company B. 
Stephen Poquette, Private, Company B. 
William A, Spangler, Private, Company B. 
Frederick Steinfield, Private, Company B. 
Joseph Smith, Private, Company B. 
George D. Wright, Private, Company B. 
John Wagner, Private, Company B. 
George G. Hussey, Sergeant, Company D. 
J. M. Wheeler, Sergeant Company D. 
G. W. Sykes, Corporal, Company D. 
L. P. Pond, Corporal, Company D. 
Joseph Myers, Corporal, Company D. 
George D. LaBordle, Corporal, Company D. 
Nelson Appley, Private, Company D. 
P. H. Anderson, Private. Company D. 
Donald Brander, Private, Company D. 
F. A. Bublitz, Private, Company D. 
J. S. Burton, Private, Company D. 



Jefferson Davis. 105 

Lawrence Bird, Private, Company D. 
Joseph Beguen, Private, Company D. 
A. J. Craig, Private, Company D. 
Thomas Day, Private, Company D. 
Thomas Dixon, Private, Company D. 
Jerrod Fields, Private, Company D. 
James Foley, Private, Company D. 
Jacob Gusch, Private, Company D. 
D. H. Goodrich, Private, Company D. 
Lewis Hartung, Private, Company D. 
N. M. Hephner, Private, Company ^D. 
C. Helgerson, Private, Company D. 
Henry Hamilton, Private, Company D. 
A. E. Johnson, Private, Company D. 
John Ludwig, Private, Company D. 
M. F. Nickerson, Private, Company D. 
P. W. O' Heron, Private, Company D. 
J. A. L. Pooch, Private, Company D. 
Alexander Pengilly, Private, Company D. 
Arne Renom, Private, Company D. 
Jerome Roe, Private, Company D. 
Herman A. Stone, Private, Company D. 
John Spear, Private, Company D. 
Henry Seidenburg, Private, Company D. 
J. A. Warren, Private, Company D. 
C. W. Seely, Private, Company D. 
Bill, colored servant. Private, Company D. 



